Anyone have a torn meniscus? Did you have surgery?

Just looking for some info right now - if you had surgery - how was it? How was recovery time? How long were you out of work? How long until you were walking, feeling ok, etc? Will I be able to manage with a young toddler??

Thanks for any info you can share?

Re: Anyone have a torn meniscus? Did you have surgery?

I just tore mine a couple of months ago. I got 2 opinions, both of which said it really doesn't require surgery and to leave it alone unless the pain doesn't seem to subside. Here I am a few months later and the pain has greatly subsided and i can move more normally now. I have a toddler also and just took it easy by keeping her confined to one room while I was in the most pain. But without any surgery or even PT, I am so much better now 3 mths later.

eta- I would be leery of a dr saying to do surgery asap. That's what I was told...be leery, since the surgery is no guarantee and is not generally the way this is treated. How bad is your tear? Mine was moderate.

Message edited 3/30/2011 5:56:52 PM.

Re: Anyone have a torn meniscus? Did you have surgery?

i have had one and i didnt do surgery. a girlfriend of mine did and she totally regrets it.

have you tried physical therapy?
excercise etc?

i hope you dont have to have surgery.

it just takes time to heal and alot of babying it and strength training for me.

gl

Re: Anyone have a torn meniscus? Did you have surgery?

Thanks ladies. I don't know 100% that I do have a tear. I have my MRI on Friday and the ortho felt that it was a 50% chance that I have a tear. So, I'll know more in a few days. He did not say that you HAVE to have surgery but did say that usually other methods of treating it are a band-aid and don't really heal the problem. All I know is 2 weeks after I injured my knee, it hurts more, not less.

Re: Anyone have a torn meniscus? Did you have surgery?

i dont know where you live but i saw a few docs who said it never heals perfectly and much depends on the amt of tearing. i have a docs name in east meadow you can call to get another opinion.
fm if you want gl!

Re: Anyone have a torn meniscus? Did you have surgery?

Re: Anyone have a torn meniscus? Did you have surgery?

My husband did, he never does anything medical n he had to fix it. it was not just a tear though, it was torn completely through and laterally n interior or something/
anyway the only was he was able to walk was with a giant metal brace n the doctor said it could not b repaired.
someone on here recommended hospital of special surgery n we went foor second opinion, he said he could fix it so he went.
he was walking 24 hours later, (even though not soppose to) n never limped again it was awesome, the recovery was amazing.

Re: Anyone have a torn meniscus? Did you have surgery?

Re: Anyone have a torn meniscus? Did you have surgery?

My husband does, he has surgery scheduled for June, but now he's getting afraid to do it.

Re: Anyone have a torn meniscus? Did you have surgery?

I had one and I had surgery after several years of PT and exercise. I use do Ballet so I had a lot of stress and damage to the knee including a dislocated patella. My injuries turned out to be much worse then anticipated once the doctor began the surgery. My surgery took 2x as long as anticipated and I was on crunches for 2 weeks before I was allowed to bear any weight. Following surgery I was in PT 3x per week for several months. I had a friend that had the same surgery and was up and walking in two weeks and only required a few months of PT. So I think everyone is different and the surgeon often does not know exactly what is going on in there even with the MRI. Personally I put off surgery as long as I possibly could...I do not regret the surgery- It helped a lot.

Re: Anyone have a torn meniscus? Did you have surgery?

I had different tears but the recovery is long. The surgery I had I couldn't do anything with my arm for weeks. It hurt to move it. My problems were different but I'm just over halfway through my recovery period and I feel like it's taking forever. Your PT and exercising is key though. Should you decide to go through the surgery, you MUST do this all the time to help it heal faster!